The U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health and Human Services have requested public input to assist the Task Force on Childhood Obesity. President Barack Obama (D) created the task force in February 2010 to enhance coordination among private sector companies, nonprofits, government agencies, and other organizations to address the critical health issue. The task force was directed to review objectives that include (i) ensuring access to healthy, affordable food; (ii) increasing physical activity in schools and communities; (iii) providing healthier foods in schools; and (iv) empowering parents with information and tools to make good choices for themselves and their families. With these four goals in mind, the task force is seeking recommendations on the most important actions that both the public and private sectors can take, as well as strategies capable of reaching “across geographic areas and to diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic groups.” In addition, comments might identify…
Tag Archives obesity
Over the past two years, little has taken place in Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp., the putative class action litigation brought in 2002 on behalf of obese and overweight teenagers who alleged that the fast food restaurant is responsible for their weight-related health conditions. On March 10, 2010, the case was reassigned to U.S. District Court Judge Donald Pogue. Since Judge Robert Sweet recused himself in 2008 from the case he had heard through two trips to the U.S. Court of Appeals, the matter has been passed to three different judges. Currently pending before the court is plaintiffs’ motion to certify the class. Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp., 02-7821 (S.D.N.Y., filed September 30, 2002).
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions conducted a hearing March 4, 2010, to address childhood obesity. Among those testifying was U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who provided an overview of the “epidemic,” examples of successful individual and community interventions and recent federal initiatives to “help Americans achieve optimal health.” She claimed that keeping pregnancy weight gain within recommended limits and breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months after birth have been shown to prevent childhood obesity. Benjamin also called for changing social and physical environments to support families in making healthy choices. Among the changes she recommended were increasing exposure and access to healthy affordable foods and making physical activity opportunities more accessible. Others testifying during the hearing included a Pittsburgh Steelers running back and a representative of the Robert Woods Johnson (RWJ) Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity. The foundation sponsored a Health Affairs briefing on childhood…
According to this article, pressure from the beverage industry has made policymakers think twice about imposing a tax on sugary beverages, which some have viewed as a way to address both revenue deficits and obesity. The reporters discuss how Congress has handled the issue since the Obama administration indicated an interest in the tax in 2009 and public health advocates testified before a Senate committee urging support for the proposal. They note how a coalition of business interests “operating under the name Americans Against Food Taxes,” quickly mobilized an array of organizations, including the National Hispanic Medical Association, to lobby against the tax. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center on Food Policy and Obesity, apparently responded to the involvement of health groups in the industry initiative by saying, “It’s all about payback. Public health advocates ran into the same phenomena when seeking to increase taxes on tobacco.” The…
Calling it one of the most urgent health issues facing the nation, the White House has initiated efforts to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. President Barack Obama (D) has signed a Presidential Memorandum which creates a Task Force on Childhood Obesity that includes Cabinet members and is charged with developing within 90 days a “comprehensive interagency plan” that “builds on effective strategies, engages families and communities, and mobilizes both public and private sector resources.” The Obama administration will also reportedly ask Congress to improve childhood nutrition by banning sugary snacks and drinks from school vending machines and requiring schools to offer healthier alternatives. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a news source that the administration will seek the changes when the Childhood Nutrition Act is overhauled later this year. See The Associated Press, February 8, 2010. First lady Michelle Obama will also take up the matter and…
A recent literature review has examined research that links children’s artificial sweetener consumption to weight gain, purportedly finding “no strong clinical evidence for causality.” Rebecca J. Brown, et al., “Artificial Sweeteners: A systematic review of metabolic effects in youth, “International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, January 2010. Sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease, the meta-analysis looked at 18 studies that included both randomized controlled trials, which did not demonstrate any adverse or beneficial metabolic effects for artificial sweeteners, and “data from large, epidemiologic studies,” which tended to “support the existence of an association between artificially-sweetened beverage consumption and weight gain in children.” The review also pointed to questions raised by recent animal studies while admitting the difficulty of establishing “causality between artificial sweetener consumption, weight gain, and metabolic abnormalities, as artificial sweetener is like to be an indicator for other variables.” According to the authors, “At…
This article chronicles a growing movement among “normal weight folks” who have become “vocal, sometimes vehemently so, in their support for ‘sin taxes’ on junk foods and soda,” and who have “increasingly attacked, with words or actions, the overweight or obese.” Jameson quotes Douglas Metz, chief of health services for a San Diego-based company that offers wellness programs to employers, as saying: “Americans as a society are getting fed up with the matter of obesity. No doubt about it. Some pockets of society are taking positive action, and unfortunately others are taking negative action. That’s what happens when a society hasn’t figured out what the fix is.” Jameson cites several examples, including the recent unsuccessful plan of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania that sought the body mass index of every enrolling student and required the obese to lose weight or take a fitness class before they could graduate and the attempt…
The Massachusetts House of Representatives has reportedly approved a bill (H.B. 4459) that would allow the state to prohibit high-calorie sodas and fatty, salty and sugary snacks in elementary, middle and high schools. The legislation, which supporters believe will help fight childhood obesity, also encourages schools to serve low-fat dairy products and whole grain breads and pastas, non-fried fruit and vegetables, non-carbonated water, and juice with no additives. The bill applies only to “competitive” foods or beverages—those sold à la carte, in vending machines or as side dishes—which are not part of the larger federal lunch program. “What this bill would do is get junk food out of the schools, but more importantly get healthy food into the schools,” sponsor Representative Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham) was quoted as saying. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, praised the legislation, saying, “This offers parents a greater…
Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has issued a report calling for Americans to join her in a “national grassroots effort” to reverse the “crisis” of overweight and obese adults and children. The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010 warns that if the trend continues, many children “will be afflicted in early adulthood with medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.” The report’s recommendations include (i) making healthy choices at home by consuming less sodas and juices with added sugars and eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains; (ii) creating healthy schools by providing fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, water, and low fat beverages; and (iii) creating healthy work sites that promote healthy eating in cafeterias.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a recommendation statement advising clinicians to screen children ages 6 and older for obesity and to refer them for intensive counseling and behavior treatment if warranted. USPSTF bases its guidance “on a systematic review of the evidence of the benefits and harms and an assessment of the net benefit of the service.” In an update to its 2005 guidelines for screening children and adolescents, USPSTF reportedly claims that treating obese kids can help them lose weight only if rigorous diet, activity and behavior counseling are involved. According to its latest study, the expert panel found “adequate evidence that multicomponent, moderate- to high-intensity behavioral interventions” for obese children can “effectively yield short-term (up to 12 months) improvements in weight status.” As USPSTF Chair Ned Calonge told a news source, the group realizes that most pediatricians are not equipped to offer the necessary treatment…
